Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Summicron 35mm f/2 (v2)

Ernst Leitz Β· Leica M Β· 1969 Β· Modified Gauss

single source, unconfirmed

Also known as: Summicron 35mm f/2 v2 Β· 35mm Summicron second version Β· Summicron-M 35 pre-ASPH Β· Summicron 35mm f/2 (second version) Β· Summicron 35mm f/2 (second version) Β· Summicron 35 v2 Β· Summicron 35mm v2

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Black, Ernst Leitz Canada Leica M 1969–1971 2316001–2318400
2446001–2448000
2460501–2462500
2483201–2485200 		The first block of 4,000 at 2316001 is black ELC
Chrome Leica M 1969–1971 β€” From serial 2316001 (Leica Wiki)
Wetzlar Leica M 1969–1971 2393401–2395400 Described as rare; lens 2359246 is identified as a black Wetzlar example
Thin focusing lever Leica M 1969–1971 β€” Described as rare, no figure
  1. Six elements in four groups against the eight in six of the first version β€” the Gauss layout kept and two elements taken out of it, which is what made the lens cheaper to build and is the whole of the optical change between the two.
  2. The serial list is arithmetically clean, which for the Leica Wiki is unusual. Its six 35mm Summicron blocks total exactly 12,400 β€” the same figure the head of the page gives as production β€” once the row it attributes to a Summicron-R is dropped. Nothing is unaccounted for at either end.
  3. The chrome version cannot be found by number. The page's summary line gives chrome as running from 2316001, but every block in its serial table that names a finish names black, and the 2316001 block is itself marked black. The 11311 chrome order number appears nowhere in the table, so a chrome lens is identified by looking at it and not by its serial.
  4. Nor can the thin focusing lever. It is listed among the page's variants and never against a block, so no serial evidence for it has been located.
  5. The table's own summary line is headed 1970–1971 while two of its six blocks are dated 1969. The blocks are the better evidence: the company-wide year list puts both 2316001 and 2328801 inside the 1969 bracket.
  6. Buyers number the 35mm f/2 Summicrons v1 to v6: v1 the eight-element of 1958; v2 the six-element of 1969; v3 of 1973 (the same six elements in a new barrel); v4 of 1979, the one called the bokeh king; v5 the ASPH of 1997; v6 the ASPH II of 2016, the 1997 glass in a new barrel; and the APO-Summicron-M 35 ASPH of 2021 beyond them. This entry uses that numbering, and the other pages carry the rest.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Engraved SUMMICRON 1:2/35 β€” the modern form, in millimetres
  • Takes Series VII filters as well as E39

Black, Ernst Leitz Canada:

  • LEITZ LENS MADE IN CANADA in the engraving

Chrome:

  • Chrome finish

Wetzlar:

  • LEITZ WETZLAR in the engraving, with E39 marked

Thin focusing lever:

  • A thin focusing lever rather than the usual thick one

Serial-range notes

the whole Leitz lens sequence
THE RULE. Leitz numbered every lens it made in one continuous run, whatever the model and whichever factory built it, so this Summicron is dated from the company-wide lens serial/year list. The lens lived inside three brackets: 1969 = 2312751–2384700, 1970 = 2384701–2468500, 1971 = 2468501–2503100 (Leica Wiki, Leica Lens Serial Numbers). All six of the model's own blocks fall inside the bracket they are dated to, so for a two-year lens the year is settled by the number alone.
2316001–2318400
The first block, and the two published figures for it do not match. The Leica Wiki's serial table gives 2,400 lenses of 1969, marked black and Canadian; this entry's variant table carries 4,000 from an earlier reading. Both are recorded. The 2,400 is the figure that makes the page add up: its six Summicron blocks come to exactly the 12,400 the same page gives as total production.
2393401–2395400
The Wetzlar block: 2,000 black lenses of 1970, and the only block on the list marked ELW. The same page calls the Wetzlar version rare, which sits awkwardly against a block a sixth the size of the whole production run. A known black Wetzlar lens, 2359246, falls outside it altogether, inside a row the page assigns to a Summicron-R.
2358301–2360000
A row printed on this model's page that the page attributes to the Summicron-R 5 cm f/2 β€” 1,700 numbers of 1970, bracketed and excluded from the total. A footnote places one black Wetzlar 35mm Summicron inside it at 2359246, which is the lens this entry's Wetzlar variant already names.
2460501–2462500
Marked "M+S-black.ELC": 2,000 Canadian black lenses of 1970. The S is the marking these tables use elsewhere for screw thread, on a lens the same page gives as M bayonet only and that this entry records as M bayonet throughout. Nothing consulted here explains it, and no screw-mount second-version Summicron has been found; the marking is recorded rather than resolved.
2483201–2485200
The last block: 2,000 Canadian black lenses of 1971, after which the third version takes over. Above 2485200 a 35mm Summicron is a version III.
2328801–2330800
The one block with no marking at all β€” 2,000 lenses of 1969, neither factory nor finish given. It is the block where a serial number settles the year and nothing else.

Specifications

Formula
Modified Gauss
Designed by
Walter Mandler β€” optical design
Construction
6 elements / 4 groups
Aperture range
f/2–f/16
Diaphragm blades
10
Min. focus
0.7 m
Dimensions
51 Γ— 33 mm
Weight
170 g
Filter
39 mm
Years manufactured
1969–1971
Country
Canada

What reviewers say

History

The second Summicron 35 is what happened when Leitz counted the cost of the first. Eight elements in six groups became six in four; the lens got 20 grams heavier and 5mm longer, focused no closer, and cost less to build. About 12,400 were made in two years, almost all of them in Midland.

For most of its life it has been the unloved one β€” the lens between the celebrated eight-element and the long-running third and fourth versions β€” and its price reflects that: $950 in the Leica Wiki’s 2010 figures against $1,600 for a screw-mount eight-element. It is the same reputation problem the M4-2 has among bodies, and it comes from the same place: a design change made for manufacturing reasons in a period when Leitz was under financial pressure.

Two collectable details, both of them small. A few were built in Wetzlar rather than Canada and are described as rare; one, lens 2359246, is identified individually in the tables. And the focusing lever comes thick or thin, with the thin one scarce. Neither changes a photograph.

Expand Collapse

This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap β€” but no human wrote these sentences.

Example photos

Sample photo taken with the Summicron 35mm f/2 (v2)
The Rotunda, University of Virginia β€” shot on a 35mm f/2 Summicron, version not stated (Tom Mills) β€” Tom Mills, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Sample photo taken with the Summicron 35mm f/2 (v2)
Gas line in winter rain β€” shot on a 35mm f/2 Summicron (Tom Mills) β€” Tom Mills, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Sample photo wanted β€” shot with a Summicron 35mm f/2 (v2)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $1,400 across 20 fixed-price listings on 2026-10-19 (middle half $1,200–$1,600). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 10 days: down 5% from $1,500.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-10-19$1,400$1,200–$1,60020
2026-10-18$1,400$1,200–$1,60020
2026-10-17$1,400$1,200–$1,60020
2026-10-16$1,400$1,200–$1,60019
2026-10-15$1,500$1,200–$1,60019
2026-09-21$1,500$1,400–$2,20025
2026-09-19$1,500$1,400–$2,20024
2026-09-18$1,500$1,400–$2,20024
2026-09-11$1,600$1,400–$2,30024
2026-09-06$1,500$1,200–$2,30026

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

Show 35 more listings

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Listings updated 2026-10-19. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH (v5 Β· v6) Β· Summicron 35mm f/2 (v1, eight elements) Β· Summicron 35mm f/2 (v3) Β· Summicron 35mm f/2 (v4, the bokeh king)

Sources (2)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this lens, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me β€” corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.